Brandon leaned his head in his hands, sighing loudly in distress and frustration. “I don’t know,”
“Where was she all this time then? I never once saw this Marian you’re talking about in person or with Marlene,” I responded sternly.
“I don’t know. It’s just one day she left, leaving Marlene and me both alone.”
“Doesn’t Marlene ask for her mother?”
“She was a few months old when Marian left. Marlene has no memory of her, nor do I want her to call Marine Mom.”
What happened between them is that Brandon hates Marian so much.
Brandon continued. “I was still a medical intern at that time. It was my mother who spent most of her time with Marlene while I was at work.” I nodded my head at his words, not knowing what to say. “She died a few months before the day I met you,” Brandon said, without even asking.
“And then you came into my life. You always took care of Marlene without even my asking, like yesterday…., I’m sorry if I have bothered you, anyway,” he said, staring at me with a sweet smile on his face.
“You never bothered me. Marlene and Liam are both the same as me. I love both of them equally.” I squeezed his hand gently, reassuring him.
“Thank you,” Brandon mumbled, his voice heavy and full of emotions.
“No, thank you for always being there for Liam and me,” I responded, wrapping my arms around him and giving him a friendly hug.
“Now, tell me what happened,” I asked, separating myself from the hug.
“Marian screwed me….. she stated that I’m a doctor and that I can’t give much time to my daughter, so she demands the court give her full custody of Marlene because I’m not a good father to her,” he uttered without pausing in between his words.
I recollected my thoughts with all the information he had stated before responding, “So…, what are you planning to do now?”
“I don’t know,” he added, sighing loudly, with his hands pressed on his temples.
We are both silent for a minute, not knowing what to say, with both our minds loaded with all kinds of thoughts about how we are to solve this problem.
But there is one thing I know for sure: Marlene is an undetectable part of Brandon himself, and, separating him from her, will demolish both their lives.
Well, the same goes for me too. I don’t think that I could ever live without Liam being in my life. So I can get Brandon’s feelings towards this situation, and I wanted to help him in any way possible, but how? So many thoughts are running through my mind right now, but they are all distracted by the sound of someone weeping.
I ran towards the guest room from where the sound is coming from, where Marlene is asleep, with Brandon following behind me, only to see her weeping with her arms wrapped around a pillow hugging it.
Seeing me entering the room, Marlene jumps from her bed and into my arms, grasping my body in her little arms, and hugging me tightly.
I caressed her hair lightly, with my arms not leaving her body. “Shh, what happened?”
Marlene didn’t speak a word. And even after noticing Brandon in the room beside me, she doesn’t leave my embrace and continues sobbing in my arms.
I looked at him, and he was silent too, with his hand caressing Marlene’s hair as she laid her head over my shoulder, with no one uttering a single word.
In recent days, Marlene has been having many bad dreams while sleeping, and all this time, she comes running into my arms for comfort. I know it’s because she spends most of her nights in my home. After all, Brandon sometimes has to run night shifts at the hospital, but the thing that is strange today is that Brandon is standing right beside me. Despite that, Marlene is embracing me tightly for comfort and not Brandon.
Marlene calmed a bit after some time, lifting her head off my shoulder gently. “You okay?” I asked, wiping the tears from her face.
She nodded her head in reply, rolling her eyes from me to Brandon. “Did you have a nightmare again?” I asked, lifting her into my arms. She nodded her head again in reply but said nothing. Brandon is silent, too.
I carried her to her bed, where she wrapped her hands tightly around my body and placed her head over my shoulder. Marlene closed her eyes in the warmth of my arms. I started singing her Liam’s favorite lullaby, trying to lull her, as my hand absent-mindedly started caressing her head.
A few moments passed, and she peacefully drifted into sleep.
I glanced up to see Brandon, who was standing in the same position as he was before, watching us with an unreadable look on his face.
I didn’t dare to ask anything about his odd reaction, knowing what a light-sleeper Marlene is and how even a little noise can disrupt her peaceful sleep. I didn’t point out anything now.
I lightly separated myself from Marlene’s embrace, being very careful not to disrupt her sleep as I kissed her forehead, making my way out of her room, leaving Brandon some time alone with his daughter. I later went to Liam’s room to check on him.
Entering Liam’s room, I witnessed Liam sleeping like a log, with his blanket lying on the floor long forgotten, with some of his pillows and stuffed toys, too. I smiled at the vision, before my eyes, of his sleeping soundly on his stomach, peacefully.
Most of Liam’s habits are very similar to Jared’s, even his sleeping habits. Nothing in the world can disrupt their sleep. Both sleep like kickboxers, throwing their pillows and blankets on the floor and crawling all over the bed, changing posture, and never staying in the same position for much time.
I smiled at myself at the happy memories and similarities Liam has with his father.
I walked towards Liam’s bed, grabbed his blanket from the floor, covered his body with the blanket, placed his favorite stuffed pillows on the ground in his hands, caressed his hair, and planted a gentle kiss on his forehead.
Getting out of Liam’s room and into the living room, I saw Brandon pacing around the room like a frantic man. He turned his face, hearing my footsteps in the night’s silence, gazing at me.
“Jane,” he mumbled, holding both my hands in his hands, lingering for a few moments before uttering the forbidden words in my life. “Marry me.”